Collaborative phishing attack detection

ABSTRACT

Described herein are methods, network devices and machine-readable storage media for detecting whether a message is a phishing attack based on the collective responses from one or more individuals who have received that message. The individuals may flag the message as a possible phishing attack, and/or may provide a numerical ranking indicating the likelihood that the message is a possible phishing attack. As responses from different individuals may have a different degree of reliability, each response from an individual may be weighted with a corresponding trustworthiness level of that individual, in an overall determination as to whether a message is a phishing attack. A trustworthiness level of an individual may indicate a degree to which the response of that individual can be trusted and/or relied upon, and may be determined by how well that individual recognized simulated phishing attacks.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/418,709, filed Jan. 28, 2017, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/138,188, filed Apr. 25, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,591,017, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/620,245, filed Feb. 12, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,325,730, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/958,480, filed Aug. 2, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,356,948, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/918,702, filed Jun. 14, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,398,038, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/785,252, filed Mar. 5, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,719,940, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/763,538, filed Feb. 8, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,253,207 and is also related to application Ser. No. 13/763,486, filed Feb. 8, 2013, and application Ser. No. 13/763,515, filed Feb. 8, 2013, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods, network devices and machine-readable media for detecting phishing attacks, and more specifically in one embodiment, relies upon the responses of individuals, weighted by their associated trustworthiness levels, to classify or not classify a message as a phishing attack.

BACKGROUND

In a phishing attack, an individual (e.g., a person, an employee of a company, an individual of a computing device) receives a message, commonly in the form of an e-mail, directing the individual to perform an action, such as opening an e-mail attachment or following (e.g., using a cursor controlled device or touch screen) an embedded link. If such message were from a trusted source (e.g., co-worker, bank, utility company), such action might carry little risk. Nevertheless, in a phishing attack, such message is from an attacker (e.g., an individual using a computing device to perform an malicious act on another computer device user) disguised as a trusted source, and an unsuspecting individual, for example, opening an attachment to view a “friend's photograph” might in fact install malicious computer software (i.e., spyware, a virus, and/or other malware) on his/her computer. Similarly, an unsuspecting individual directed (e.g., directed via an embedded link in an e-mail) to a webpage made to look like an authentic login or authentication webpage might be deceived into submitting (e.g., via a web form) his/her username, password or other sensitive information to an attacker.

While there are computer programs designed to detect and block phishing emails, phishing attacks methods are constantly being modified by attackers to evade such forms of detection. The present invention addresses some shortcoming of previous attempts to counter phishing attacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventors have observed that one effective means to counter phishing attacks is to make individuals more knowledgeable about phishing attacks. In an education process, individuals are subjected to simulated phishing attacks, which are designed to resemble actual phishing attacks. In response to a simulated attack, an individual typically either falls victim to it, ignores the attack, consciously chooses to not react or additionally reports the attack too (e.g., reports the attack to the information technology (IT) department, law enforcement, etc.). For those that fall victim to an attack, training is provided to decrease the likelihood that they will be deceived by a future simulated and/or real phishing attack. For those that identify the message as a possible phishing attack, if the message is determined to be a simulated phishing attack or, eventually, is determined to be a real phishing attack, feedback may be provided confirming that the message was a simulated phishing attack or real phishing attack, as appropriate. The respective responses of individuals is recorded (e.g., whether he/she fell victim to the attack, ignored the attack or reported the attack).

In the monitoring of individuals' responses, occasionally a message that is not a simulated phishing attack will be flagged (or otherwise identified) by one or more individuals as being a possible phishing attack. Such message could be an ordinary (i.e., not malicious) message that has been incorrectly identified by one or more individuals as a possible phishing attack (i.e., a false alarm), or could be a real phishing attack that has been correctly identified by one or more individuals (i.e., an accurate detection). One way to distinguish between these two possibilities is to perform an “independent” analysis of the flagged message (i.e., analysis not biased on the fact that a message has been flagged). In other words, the flagged message could be forwarded to a computer security expert who could provide an “official” determination as to the nature of the flagged message (e.g., whether it is a real phishing attack or not). Alternatively, the flagged message could be processed by computer software configured to detect phishing attacks. Such approaches which identify a phishing attack by recognizing characteristics indicative of a phishing attack (e.g., spoofed sender identifier, attachment with executable file type, etc.), however, are not the focus of the present application. Instead, the focus of the present application is to resolve the uncertainty of whether a message has been appropriately flagged by analyzing the reputation of the one or more individuals who have flagged the message. Stated differently, the key is to identify those individuals whose responses are likely to be accurate (i.e., trustworthy individuals) from others whose responses are less likely to identify the phishing attacks accurately (i.e., untrustworthy individuals). If such determination can be made, the responses of trustworthy individuals can be weighted more heavily as compared to the responses of untrustworthy individuals, or the responses of untrustworthy individuals can be ignored.

Conveniently, by conducting simulated phishing attacks on individuals and monitoring their performance, it is indeed possible to identify trustworthy individuals from untrustworthy individuals. Therefore, upon a message being identified by one or more individuals as being a possible phishing attack and such message further determined not to be a simulated phishing attack, the responses of each individual can be weighted by a trustworthiness level (e.g., based on how well he/she identified simulated phishing attacks, based on how well he/she identified real phishing attacks, and/or based on various other factors described below) in order to estimate how likely the message is a real phishing attack. The response provided by an individual may include a flag indicating a message being a possible phishing attack and/or a ranking indicative of the likelihood that a message is a possible phishing attack.

These and other embodiments of the invention are further described in the description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a system diagram with a collection of interconnected network devices, computing devices and databases, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 depicts an example log of simulated phishing attacks, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 depicts example responses of individuals to simulated phishing attacks, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts example trustworthiness levels, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts a table recording various attributes associated with messages that have been identified as being possible phishing attacks and determined not to be simulated phishing attacks, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of a process performed in response to a message being identified by one or more individuals as a possible phishing attack, according to one embodiment; and

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of a process performed in response to a message being identified by one or more individuals as a possible phishing attack, according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 depicts system 100 in which the present invention may be practiced, in accordance with one embodiment. In system 100, network devices 10, 12 and 14 are communicatively coupled to computing devices 16, 18 and 20 via network 22. The number of devices (3 of each, 6 in total) is exemplary in nature, and more or fewer number of devices may be present. A computing device may be one or more of a client, a desktop computer, a mobile computing device such as a smartphone, tablet computer or laptop computer, and a dumb terminal interfaced to a cloud computing system. A network device may be one or more of a server, a device used by a network administrator, and a device used by an attacker. In general, there may be very few distinctions (if any) between a network device and a computing device.

Network device 14 may be configured to send simulated phishing attacks to computing devices 16, 18 and 20. As described above, simulated phishing attacks are designed to resemble real phishing attacks in order to train the users of computing devices 16, 18 and 20 to better recognize and thwart a real phishing attack. In contrast to network device 14, network devices 10 and 12 may be locally or remotely used by an attacker to send a real phishing attack to computing devices 16, 18 and 20. A network device may be remotely used by an attacker in the event that it has been infected with malware of the attacker.

In one embodiment, three databases 24, 26 and 28 are communicatively coupled to network device 14. Database 24 stores a log of simulated phishing attacks; database 26 records the responses of individuals to simulated phishing attacks; and database 28 records the trustworthiness levels of individuals. Three databases are depicted for illustrative purposes, but in practice any number of the databases may be present within a single storage device. The databases may be located remotely from or locally within network device 14. Further, one or more of databases 24, 26 and 28 may be optional, depending on the particular implementation of system 100.

In one embodiment, network device 14 administers simulated phishing attacks to individuals of computing devices 16, 18 and 20. Each time a simulated phishing attack is transmitted to a computing device, such event may be recorded in the log of simulated phishing attacks 24. Responses (if any) of the individuals to the simulated phishing attacks may be recorded in database 26, and may include any action performed by the individuals in response to a simulated phishing attack. A response may include an individual reporting an attack (e.g., reporting an attack to an IT administrator), an individual ignoring an attack, and an individual falling victim to an attack (e.g., opening an attachment of a simulated phishing attack, following an embedded link of a simulated phishing attack, submitting personal information on an authentication webpage, etc.). For those that identify the message as a possible phishing attack, if the message is determined to be a simulated phishing attack or, eventually, is determined to be a real phishing attack, feedback may be provided confirming that the message was a simulated phishing attack or real phishing attack, as appropriate. The feedback may be in the form of an email message, or an out-of-band message, such as an SMS message or other message. Further, based on the responses (or based on other input), network device 14 may calculate a trustworthiness level associated with each individual of computing devices 16, 18 and 20. The trustworthiness level indicates the degree that a notification from an individual (the notification identifying a message as a possible phishing attack) should be trusted. Such trustworthiness levels may be stored in database 28.

At some point, an attacker may transmit a real phishing attack from one or more of network devices 10 and 12 to one or more of computing devices 16, 18 and 20. Individuals of one or more of computing devices 16, 18 and 20 may notify network device 14 (and/or an administrator thereof) that a received message is a possible phishing attack. Network device 14 may search through the log of simulated phishing attacks 24 to determine whether the message is a simulated phishing attack. Upon determining that the message is not a simulated phishing attack, network device 14 may estimate the likelihood that the message is a real phishing attack. Such likelihood may be calculated via statistical methods and/or heuristics (described further below), and may be a numerical value referred to as a score. In another embodiment, network device 14 may, in addition to or instead of calculating a score, classify or not classify the message as a real phishing attack. Such score and/or classification may be based on respective trustworthiness levels assigned to individuals of computing devices 16, 18 and 20. Where the message is classified as a real phishing attack, feedback may be provided to those individuals that identified the message as a possible phishing attack, confirming that the message was a real phishing attack. The feedback may be in the form of an email message, or an out-of-band message, such as an SMS message or other message.

In another embodiment, a computer program (e.g., plug-in, client-side plug-in, etc.) present at one or more of computing devices 16, 18 and 20 may determine whether a message is a simulated phishing attack or not. For clarity of discussion, suppose an individual of computing device 18 has flagged a message as a possible phishing attack. Instead of consulting network device 14, computing device 18 may determine, locally, whether the flagged message is a simulated phishing attack. A computer program at computing device 18 may examine the sender information of the flagged message in order to make such determination. For instance, there could be a list of sender e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc. that are used by network device 14 to transmit simulated phishing attacks. If the sender information of the flagged message were included in such a list, that message could be classified as a simulated phishing attack. If the flagged message were determined not to be a simulated phishing attack (hence, flagged message is potentially a real phishing attack), computing device 18 could query network device 14 to determine the trustworthiness level of the individual who flagged the message (i.e., individual using computing device 18). Based on the trustworthiness level of the individual (i.e., if trustworthiness level is sufficiently high), computing device 18 could alert network device 14, a network security appliance (e.g., a gateway, firewall, spam filter—all not depicted), and/or a security event responder (not depicted) that a potentially malicious message was able to thwart security measures and that additional security measures should be taken to ensure that such messages (e.g., messages from same sender as flagged message) are blocked in the future.

FIGS. 2-4 illustrate examples of the contents that may be present in databases 24, 26 and 28. FIG. 2 depicts an example log of simulated phishing attacks. The log indicates that a simulated phishing attack with ID=1 was transmitted at 10:10 AM from a sender masquerading as Jane to the three recipients Ann, Bob and Chip. The subject of the simulated phishing attack was “Review Account Activity”. Further indicated in the log is a simulated phishing attack with ID=2 transmitted to Ann, Bob and Chip at 11:57 AM, 11:58 AM and 10:59 AM, respectively. For the simulated phishing attack with ID=2, the sender masqueraded as Tom. Ellipses in the last row of the log indicates that only a portion of the log is being displayed, and more entries may be present. Simulated phishing attacks with a common ID number may identify simulated phishing attacks constructed from a common simulated phishing attack template, as described in related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/763,515, filed Feb. 8, 2013, entitled Performance Benchmarking for Simulated Phishing Attacks.

FIG. 3 depicts a table which records individuals' responses to simulated phishing attacks. As indicated in FIG. 3, in response to simulated phishing attack (ID=1), Ann reported the attack, Bob reported the attack, and Chip fell victim to the attack. In response to simulated phishing attack (ID=2), Ann fell victim to the attack, Bob reported the attack, and Chip fell victim to the attack. Further entries in the table should be self-explanatory. From these responses to the simulated phishing attacks, it can be qualitatively inferred that if Ann were to identify a message as a possible phishing attack, her identification should be somewhat trusted. If Bob were to identify a message as a possible phishing attack, his identification should be trusted. In contrast, if Chip were to identify a message as a possible phishing attack, his identification should not be trusted.

FIG. 4 depicts quantitative trustworthiness levels assigned to each individual: Ann=1, Bob=4, and Chip=−2. These trustworthiness levels have been calculated according to the following rules (such rules being exemplary in nature):

-   -   1. Each time an individual reports a simulated phishing attack,         that individual receives 1 point.     -   2. Each time an individual ignores a simulated phishing attack,         that individual receives 0 points.     -   3. Each time an individual falls victim to a simulated phishing         attack, that victim is penalized 1 point (i.e., receives −1         point).         Therefore, Ann's trustworthiness level is calculated as follows:         1+−1+0+1=1. Bob's trustworthiness level is calculated as         follows: 1+1+1+1=4. Chip's trustworthiness level is calculated         as follows: −1+−1+1+−1=−2. Of course, such computation and point         values are exemplary, and other computations and point values to         arrive at a trustworthiness level are possible.

In one embodiment, point values may be based on the type of simulated phishing attack and/or its sophistication. For instance, an individual who reports a sophisticated simulated phishing attack may receive more points (e.g., 2 points) than an individual who reports an unsophisticated simulated phishing attack (e.g., 1 point), because recognizing a sophisticated simulated phishing attack may demonstrate higher recognition abilities than recognizing an unsophisticated simulated phishing attack. Likewise, an individual who falls victim to a sophisticated simulated phishing attack may be penalized fewer points (e.g., penalized 1 point) than an individual who falls victim to an unsophisticated simulated phishing attack (e.g., penalized 2 points). In the former case, falling victim to a sophisticated phishing attack might be more a result of the sophistication of the phishing attack than low recognition abilities of the individual, and hence the penalty should be lower. In contrast, in the latter case, falling victim to an unsophisticated phishing attack is more likely the result of low recognition abilities of the individual, and hence the penalty should be higher.

As mentioned above, point values may also be based on the type of simulated phishing attack. More specifically, the type of a simulated phishing attack may refer to the type of target action or the delivery mechanism. For instance, in response to recognizing a simulated phishing attack with a fraudulent attachment, an individual might receive 3 points; falling victim to same might result in a deduction of 3 points. In response to recognizing a simulated phishing attack with a fraudulent embedded link, an individual might receive 2 points; falling victim to same might result in a deduction of 2 points. In response to recognizing a simulated phishing attack delivered via e-mail, an individual might receive 3 points; falling victim to same might result in a deduction of 3 points. In response to recognizing a simulated phishing attack delivered via a text message, an individual might receive 1 point; falling victim to same might result in a deduction of 1 point.

FIG. 5 depicts a table which helps to illustrate how trustworthiness levels may be used in computing a likelihood that a message is a real phishing attack and further to classify whether a message is a real phishing attack. As depicted in FIG. 5, message 1 was reported by Bob and Chip as a possible phishing attack. In one embodiment, an estimation of a likelihood that a message is a real phishing attack (i.e., called a “score” in short) is the sum of the respective trustworthiness levels of individuals who reported the message. Therefore, the score for message 1 is Bob's trustworthiness level plus Chip's trustworthiness level (i.e., 4+−2) which equals 2. The score for message 2 is computed as Ann's trustworthiness level plus Bob's trustworthiness level (i.e., 1+4) which equals 5. The score for message 3 is Chip's trustworthiness level which equals −2. In one embodiment, a determination as to whether to classify a message as a real phishing attack is based on comparing the score to a threshold. In the example of FIG. 5, the threshold is chosen as 4, and any message with a score that exceeds the threshold (i.e., 4) is classified as a real phishing attack. Therefore, messages 1 and 3 are not classified as a real phishing attack, whereas message 2 is classified as a real phishing attack. The particular numerical value selected for the threshold, of course, is exemplary, and other values may be used. In one embodiment, the threshold is an adjustable parameter, adjusted according to one or more of the number of false alarms and the number of missed detections.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram 48 of a process performed in response to a message being identified by one or more individuals as a possible phishing attack, according to one embodiment. Such flow diagram is described primarily from the perspective of network device 14 (or a similar device). In step 50, network device 14 receives a notification that a message has been identified by one or more individuals as a possible phishing attack, the message having been received on a computing device of each of the one or more individuals. Such notification may be received via e-mail (e.g., the suspicious e-mail forwarded to a network administrator of network device 14). In one embodiment, a plug-in built into an e-mail client (e.g., MICROSOFT® OUTLOOK®, IBM® LOTUS NOTES®, etc.) or a web-based e-mail client (GMAIL® from GOOGLE INC®, YAHOO! MAIL® from YAHOO! INC®) may provide users of the mail client with a toolbar and/or graphical user interface element that, when selected, automatically reports an e-mail as a suspicious message (and more specifically, as a possible phishing attack) to network device 14 (or administrator thereof) or a network device other than network device 14 (e.g., an e-mail security analysis engine). Further, a single graphical user interface action (e.g., one-click of a button, one-touch of a button) may be sufficient to trigger the notification to be sent to the network device. In the reporting, the suspicious message may be included in its entirety, partially included, or omitted. Identifying characteristics of the suspicious message may be sent to network device 14, including one or more of a sender identifier of the message, a recipient identifier of the message, a subject of the message, a time of transmission of the message, and a header of the message. Network device 14 may be notified that a message has been identified by one or more individuals as a possible phishing attack by means other than e-mail, including a Short Message Service (SMS) text message, a telephone call, an instant message (IM), etc.

In step 52, network device determines whether the message is a simulated phishing attack. In one embodiment, such step may be accomplished by comparing identifying characteristics of the message (e.g., including one or more of a sender identifier of the message, a recipient identifier of the message, a subject of the message, a time of transmission of the message, and message headers) with a log of transmitted simulated phishing attacks. Alternatively or in addition to such comparison, the message body or message content may be compared (via text comparison) to one or more simulated phishing attack templates, such templates described in the above-cited U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/763,515. Alternatively or in addition to such comparison, a determination of whether a flagged message is a simulated phishing attack may be based on a checksum of the message content. As described earlier, the analysis to determine whether a flagged message is a simulated phishing attack may also be performed at a computing device (e.g., at the client side) instead of at a network device (e.g., at the server side).

In step 54, if the message is identified as a simulated phishing attack, the network device may record in a database (e.g., database 26) that each of the one or more individuals has correctly identified the message as a possible phishing attack. Further, feedback may be provided to the individuals that correctly identified the message, confirming that the message was a simulated phishing attack. The feedback may be in the form of an email message, or an out-of-band message, such as an SMS message or other message. If the message is not identified as a simulated phishing attack, it is possible that an ordinary message (i.e., message without malware) has been incorrectly identified as a possible phishing attack (i.e., false alarm, in which case those who identified the message as a possible phishing attack may be advised that it was not), or the message has been correctly identified as a real phishing attack, in which case feedback may be provided to the individuals that correctly identified the message, confirming that the message was a real phishing attack. In any of these instances, the feedback may be in the form of an email message or an out-of-band message, such as an SMS message or other message. To distinguish between these possibilities, the network device determines a trustworthiness level (step 56) for each of the one or more individuals.

In one embodiment, the trustworthiness level of an individual is based on one or more of a percentage of simulated phishing attacks that the individual correctly identified as a possible phishing attack, a percentage of simulated phishing attacks that the individual ignored, and a percentage of simulated phishing attacks that the individual fell victim to. Alternatively or in addition, the trustworthiness level of an individual may be based on one or more of a number of simulated phishing attacks that the individual correctly identified as a possible phishing attack, a number of simulated phishing attacks that the individual ignored, and a number of simulated phishing attacks that the individual fell victim to. Alternatively or in addition, the trustworthiness level of an individual may be based on one or more of a number of real phishing attacks that the individual correctly identified as a possible phishing attack, a number of real phishing attacks that the individual ignored, and a number of real phishing attacks that the individual fell victim to.

Alternatively or in addition, the trustworthiness level of an individual may be based on one or more of a field of employment of the individual, an educational degree of the individual, a job position of the individual, and an employment history of the individual. For instance, an individual with a Ph.D. in Computer Science specializing in computer security may be one factor that is taken into account when determining a trustworthiness score thereof, and according to predetermined rules, such factor may increase such individual's trustworthiness score by, e.g., 20%. As another example, an individual with 10 years of work experience in computer security may be one factor that is taken into account when determining a trustworthiness score thereof, and according to predetermined rules, such factor may increase such individual's trustworthiness score by, e.g., 15%. Such information (e.g., field of employment of the first individual, an educational degree of the first individual, a job position of the first individual, and employment history of the first individual, etc.) may be stored in a profile associated with each individual, such information being manually queried from the individual or automatically retrieved from a database hosted, e.g., by LINKEDIN®.

Alternatively or in addition, the trustworthiness level of an individual may be based on a rating assigned to the individual by people within a social network of the individual. For instance, the social network could be one hosted by LINKEDIN®, and the people within the social network of the individual might include the individual's co-workers, friends from college, etc. People within the social network of the individual might be asked to rate the individual's knowledge about phishing attacks from a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being not knowledgeable and 10 being very knowledgeable. Likewise, people within the social network of the individual might be asked to rate the individual's ability to recognize a phishing attack from 1 to 10. If there is more than one person within the social network of the individual, an overall rating may be based on the average of respective ratings assigned by peers of the individual.

A trustworthiness level associated with an individual may be a dynamically determined value (e.g., determined when needed) or may be a pre-calculated value that is retrieved from a database (such as database 28) when needed.

In step 58, the network device processes the message based on the trustworthiness level of each of the one or more individuals. In one embodiment, the network device processes the message by classifying or not classifying the message as a real phishing attack based on the trustworthiness level of each of the one or more individuals. In other embodiments, a confidence score, a likelihood and/or a probability may be provided to inform a person receiving the classification with a more detailed understanding as to how likely a classification is correct (e.g., message is a real phishing attack with a confidence score of 8 out of 10, message is not a real phishing attack with a confidence score of 5 out of 10, etc.). In some embodiments, a binary classification (e.g., Yes/No) of a message as a real phishing attack may be omitted. Instead, a numerical value from a range of values may be provided to inform a person how likely a message is a real phishing attack. Below, a more detailed discussion regarding the classification of a message based on trustworthiness level(s) is provided.

In the case where only one individual has flagged a message as a possible phishing attack, that individual's trustworthiness level may be compared with a threshold in order to classify or not classify the message as a real phishing attack. That individual's trustworthiness level may be provided as a confidence score of the classification. Alternatively, a binary classification may be omitted and the individual's trustworthiness level may be provided as a measure of the likelihood that a message is a real phishing attack.

In the case where more than one individual has flagged a message as a possible phishing attack, an average of the respective trustworthiness levels of those individuals who have flagged the message may be computed, and such average may be compared with a threshold in order to classify or not classify the message as a real phishing attack. Various other statistical measures of the trustworthiness levels may be computed (such as the maximum trustworthiness level, minimum trustworthiness level, mode of trustworthiness levels, etc.) and such statistical measures may be compared with a threshold in order to classify or not classify the message as a real phishing attack.

In one variation, a statistical measure may be computed from only a subset of the respective trustworthiness levels of the individuals. For instance, trustworthiness levels may range from −5 to +5, with −5 being not trustworthy and +5 being trustworthy. In some cases, it may be desirable to simply ignore any trustworthy levels below 0, and take the average of trustworthiness levels above 0. Such average may then be compared with a threshold in order to classify or not classify the message as a real phishing attack.

In one embodiment, individuals may rank the likelihood that a message is a real phishing attack. The rank may be a numeric value, e.g., between 1 and 10, with 1 indicating the message is not likely to be a phishing attack and 10 indicating the message is very likely to be a phishing attack. Therefore, the earlier described instance where an individual flags a message as a possible phishing attack may be interpreted as a specific instance of this more general framework (i.e., binary values being a very limited range of values). In this more general framework, the aggregate likelihood that a message is a real phishing attack may be computed as a weighted average, in which the respective trustworthiness levels of individuals are used to weight the respective ranks. In mathematical notation, suppose r_(i) equals the rank assigned by the i^(th) individual and suppose t_(i) equals the trustworthiness level associated with the i^(th) individual. A weighted average of the ranks may be computed as follows: t₁r₁+t₂r₂+t_(n)r_(n), where there are n individuals providing rankings.

In one embodiment (not depicted), immediately before or after step 52 (i.e., determine whether the message is a simulated phishing attack), network device may also determine whether the message is a known phishing attack. Such determination may rely upon a database that stores known phishing attacks. If so (i.e., message is a known phishing attack), the network device may record that the one or more individuals has correctly identified the message as a possible phishing attack. Otherwise (i.e., message is not a known phishing attack), the process may proceed to step 52 (in the event that such added step occurs immediately prior to step 52), or the process may proceed to step 56 (in the event that such added step occurs immediately after step 52).

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram 60 of a process performed in response to a message being identified by one or more individuals as a possible phishing attack, according to another embodiment. Such flow diagram is described primarily from the perspective of network device 14 (or a similar device). In step 50, network device 14 receives a notification that a message has been identified by one or more individuals as a possible phishing attack, the message having been received on a computing device of each of the one or more individuals. In step 52, the network device determines whether the message is a simulated phishing attack. In step 54, if the message is identified as a simulated phishing attack, the network device may record in a database (e.g., database 26) that each of the one or more individuals has correctly identified the message as a possible phishing attack. (Steps 50, 52 and 54 have been more fully described above with respect to FIG. 6.)

If the message is not identified as a simulated phishing attack, network device 14 may determine (in step 62) whether the message is likely to be a real phishing attack. Stated differently, step 62 attempts to filter out the false alarms (i.e., notification identifying a message as a possible phishing attack when it is neither a simulated nor a real phishing attack). This way, network device 14 can focus more of its resources (e.g., processing resources) on messages that are more likely to be real phishing attacks. Of course, step 62 may occasionally classify a notification as a false alarm when it in fact has correctly identified a real phishing attack.

If network device 14 determines that the message is not likely to be a real phishing attack, no further analysis is performed on the message (step 64). If network device 14 determines that the message is likely to be a real phishing attack, further analysis is performed on the message to determine whether the message is a real phishing attack and/or to quantify the likelihood that the message is a real phishing attack. Such further analysis, in one embodiment, may involve determining a trustworthiness level for each of the one or more individuals (step 56) and processing the message based on the trustworthiness level of each of the one or more individuals (step 58). (Steps 56 and 58 have been more fully described above with respect to FIG. 6). To clarify, determining whether the message is likely to be a real phishing attack (in step 62) may have a binary output (Yes/No), whereas, quantifying the likelihood that the message is a real phishing attack (in one embodiment of step 58) may have a range of numerical values (e.g., rational values from 0 to 1, integers from 0 to 10, etc.)

There are a variety of techniques through which network device 14 may determine whether the message is likely to be a real phishing attack (in step 62). In one embodiment, network device 14 may count the number of individuals who reported the same message in a period of time (e.g., 1 day), and compare the number of individuals to a threshold. If the number of individuals exceeds the threshold (e.g., threshold of 5 individuals), network device 14 may determine that the message is likely to be a real phishing attack. Otherwise, network device 14 may determine that the message is not likely to be a real phishing attack.

In another embodiment, network device 14 may determine whether a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) present in the message matches an underlying link of the URL. If the URL does not match the underlying link of the URL, network device 14 may determine that the message is likely to be a real phishing attack. Otherwise, network device 14 may determine that the message is not likely to be a real phishing attack.

In another embodiment, network device 14 may determine whether a Domain Name System (DNS) mail record of a sender domain of the message matches a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server from which the message was sent. If the DNS mail record does not match the SMTP server, network device 14 may determine that the message is likely to be a real phishing attack. Otherwise, network device 14 may determine that the message is not likely to be a real phishing attack.

In another embodiment, network device 14 may determine whether individuals from at least two different organizations have reported the same message as a possible phishing attack. If individuals from at least two different organizations have reported the same message as a possible phishing attack, network device 14 may determine that the message is likely to be a real phishing attack. Otherwise, network device 14 may determine that the message is not likely to be a real phishing attack.

In another embodiment, a combination (e.g., combined using the AND, OR, or other logical operations) of the above-described techniques may be use to determine whether the message is likely to be a real phishing attack. Indeed, an administrator may select to use one or more of the above-described techniques in step 62.

Readers should recognize that various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented with the aid of computer-implemented processes or methods (a.k.a. software, programs or routines) that may be rendered in any computer language including, without limitation, C#, C/C++, Fortran, COBOL, PASCAL, assembly language, markup languages (e.g., HTML, SGML, XML, VoXML), and the like, as well as object-oriented environments such as the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), JAVA™ and the like. In general, terms such as software, programs, routines, scripts and the like, as used herein, are meant to encompass any series of logical steps performed in a sequence to accomplish a given purpose.

In view of the above, it should be appreciated that some portions of the detailed description that follows are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the computer science arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, it will be appreciated that throughout the description of the present invention, use of terms such as “processing”, “computing”, “calculating”, “determining”, “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

The present invention can be implemented with an apparatus (referred to above as a network device, computing device, etc.) to perform the operations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer, selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of non-transitory media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus, which in turn may be coupled to a processor.

The algorithms and processes presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method. For example, any of the methods according to the present invention can be implemented in hard-wired circuitry, by programming a general-purpose processor, or by any combination of hardware and software. One of ordinary skill in the art will immediately appreciate that the invention can be practiced with any computer system configuration, including personal computers, workstations, hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based, digital signal processor-based or other programmable consumer electronics, network computers that employ thin client architectures, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network.

Thus, methods, network devices and machine-readable media for detecting a phishing attack based on the responses of individuals, weighted by their associated trustworthiness levels, have been described. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for enhancing the security of a computing environment, the method comprising: generating a simulated phishing email at a networked computing system, wherein: the simulated phishing email comprises specified identifying header information, and wherein the specified identifying header information is stored in a header of the simulated phishing email; the simulated phishing email is a non-malicious email that resembles a phishing attack; the simulated phishing email includes content attempting to lure an individual into performing a target action on a computing device; when the individual performs the target action on the computing device, performance of the target action does not compromise the computing device or personal information of the individual; transmitting the simulated phishing email from the networked computing system over a communications network so that it can be delivered in an email account associated with a user; providing computer-executable instructions for an email client plugin, wherein the instructions provide a user-interface element in the form of a button in the email client for a user interaction in the form of identifying an email received in the email account associated with the user as a suspected phishing email or a simulated phishing email; providing computer-executable instructions for the email client plugin for receiving a user interaction with the user-interface element displayed to the user in the form of the button while the email received in the email account associated with the user is displayed to the user; providing computer-executable instructions for the email client plugin for determining when the received email is the simulated phishing email generated by the networked computing system by comparing the specified identifying header information to header information of the received email, wherein when the header information of the received email matches the specified identifying header information, then the received email is indicated as the simulated phishing email generated by the networked computing system; when the received email is determined to be the simulated phishing email generated by the networked computing system based on the comparing of the header information, then the user interaction with the user interface element in the form of the button causes the plugin to identify the received email in the email account associated with the user as being a simulated phishing email; when the received email is determined to not be a simulated phishing email generated by the networked computing system based on the comparing of header information, then the user interaction with the user interface element in the form of the button causes the plugin to identify the received email in the email account associated with the user as being a suspected phishing email; recording data in volatile or non-volatile computer memory indicating whether the received email was identified as a simulated phishing email; and providing computer-executable instructions for the email client plugin, upon determining that the received email is not a simulated phishing email, causing the received email to be transmitted for analysis as to whether or not it is malicious.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the simulated phishing email comprises at least one embedded hyperlink or attachment.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable instructions are provided for an email client of the email system, and further wherein the email client is web-based or is cloud-based.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-interface element is a graphical user-interface element comprising a button that, when selected, automatically sends a notification of the user identification to the networked computing system.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the received email for analysis further comprises sending the received email in its entirety.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the email system comprises a web-based email client, an email client installed on a remote computing device, or an email server.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the specified identifying header information stored in the header of the simulated phishing email functions to identify a sender.
 8. A system for enhancing the security of a computing environment, the system comprising a processor and data store with computer-executable instructions for: generating a simulated phishing email at a networked computing system, wherein: the simulated phishing email comprises specified identifying header information, and wherein the specified identifying header information is stored in a header of the simulated phishing email; the simulated phishing email is a non-malicious email that resembles a phishing attack; the simulated phishing email includes content attempting to lure an individual into performing a target action on a computing device; when the individual performs the target action on the computing device, performance of the target action does not compromise the computing device or personal information of the individual; transmitting the simulated phishing email from the networked computing system over a communications network so that it can be delivered in an email account associated with a user; an email client plugin with computer-executable instructions for: a user-interface element in the form of a button in the email client for a user interaction in the form of identifying an email received in the email account associated with the user as a suspected phishing email or a simulated phishing email; receiving a user interaction with the user-interface element displayed to the user in the form of a button while the email received in the email account associated with the user is displayed to the user; determining when the received email is the simulated phishing email generated by the networked computing system by comparing the specified identifying header information to header information of the received email, wherein when the header information of the received email matches the specified identifying header information, then the received email is indicated as the simulated phishing email generated by the networked computing system; when the received email is determined to be the simulated phishing email generated by the networked computing system based on the comparing of the header information, then the user interaction with the user interface element in the form of the button causes the plugin to identify the received email in the email account associated with the user as being a simulated phishing email; when the received email is determined to not be a simulated phishing email generated by the networked computing system based on the comparing of header information, then the user interaction with the user interface element in the form of the button causes the plugin to identify the received email in the email account associated with the user as being a suspected phishing email; recording data in volatile or non-volatile computer memory indicating whether the received email was identified as a simulated phishing email; and upon determining that the received email is not a simulated phishing email, causing the received email to be transmitted for analysis as to whether or not it is malicious.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the simulated phishing email comprises at least one embedded hyperlink or attachment.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer-executable instructions are provided for an email client of the email system, and further wherein the email client is web-based or is cloud-based.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the user-interface element is a graphical user-interface element comprising a button that, when selected, automatically sends a notification of the user identification to the networked computing system.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein transmitting the received email for analysis further comprises sending the received email in its entirety.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the email system comprises a web-based email client, an email client installed on a remote computing device, or an email server.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the specified identifying header information stored in the header of the simulated phishing email functions to identify a sender. 